OHL Alumni Central

Corey Neilson played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials then moved to the Detroit Junior Whalers midway through the 1995-96 season. In his final season in the OHL, Neilson played for the Barrie Colts.

In his first season with North Bay, the team won the Hamilton Spectator as the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season champion and went on to defeat Detroit to win the Robertson Cup as the league’s playoff champion. Corey was selected to the OHL’s First All-Rookie Team.

After his first season, Neilson was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 53rd overall. For the most part, from 1999-00 to 2005-06, Corey spent his time in the ECHL with exception of the 2002-03 season which he played in the UHL and AHL. Neilson was twice and ECHL All-Star and was Defenseman of the year in 2003-04.

Since 2006-07, Corey has been a member of the Nottingham Panthers in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. Neilson has led the league’s defensemen twice in scoring and currently leads the EIHL’s defensemen this season with 45 points in 42 games. The team is sitting in fourth place in the league with the possibility of going up a position and realistically no chance of going down. Corey has achieved his personal numbers and has led the team as head coach for the past three seasons.

His influence as head coach has brought in some very talented Ontario Hockey League grads for the stretch run, such as Daniel Tkaczuk and Jeff Heerema (click on names to view previous posts featuring those players).

Check out Corey Neilson’s profile page at the Nottingham Panthers official website.

Alex Penner in black for the Nottingham Panthers.

Over the past week and a half, the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have lost an Ontario Hockey League grad and gained another. Alex Penner, or as he was known in England ‘Weapon X’, returned to North America to play for his 2009-10 club, the Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Daniel Tkaczuk signed on with the Panthers for the rest of this season after playing the first half with EC Dornbirn in Austria’s tier 2.

Penner was on his way to beating the best single season goal production in his professional hockey career with the Panthers. Weapon X has notched four in 30 games. His previous best was five with Colorado last season. In that 30 games, Alex amassed 291 minutes in penalties, which is his highest single season total.

Alex Penner played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2004-05 and 2005-06. His first season in the OHL consisted of just eleven games with the Guelph Storm. In his second season, he put in 55 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central on Alex Penner.

Daniel Tkaczuk on the left with ERC Ingolstadt during the 2006-07 DEL season.

Daniel Tkaczuk will definitely be an offensive threat with the Panthers. The team currently sits fourth in the ten team league. Between fourth and fifth is the line between the have and have-nots of the EIHL. Nottingham is just six points behind Belfast and Sheffield. The Panthers sit nine points behind the first place Cardiff Devils. There is a twelve point difference between Nottingham and the fifth place Braehead Clan (a first year team).

Tkaczuk played four stellar seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Barrie Colts. Daniel was team captain in the final three of the four seasons and went to the world juniors for Team Canada in 1998 and 1999. He was a sixth overall draft pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Calgary Flames. He appeared in 19 games with the Flames in 2000-01.

After six seasons in Europe from 2003-04 to 2008-09, Tkaczuk returned to North America last season and was bounced around from four different teams, inlcuding: Charlotte Checkers (ECHL), Syracuse Crunch (AHL), Rochester Americans (AHL) and Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). His European tour has taken him to Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria and now England. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring Daniel Tkaczuk.

Of course, both players appear on the OHL Alumni Big List.

Jeff Heerema with Medvescak Zagred of Austria's EBEL during the 2009-10 season.

The Nottingham Panthers sit in second place in the ten team Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) of Great Britain. The Panthers are three points  back of the Belfast Giants but have three games in hand. The Panthers have brought in a dangerous weapon to subdue the Giants and push into first place.

Ontario Hockey League grad Jeff Heerema has finally found a home for the 2010-11 season. He was not invited back to Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) after a successful regular season but less than stellar playoff run in 2009-10.

Heerema played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Sarnia Sting. Jeff was a picture of consistency with the Sting with seasons of 32, 31 and 36 goals and 72, 70 and 77 points. He led the Sting in all offensive categories in his final season with 36 goals, 41 assists and 77 points.

Heerema was thought of quite highly by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL draft. Jeff went in the first round, eleventh overall. He saw action with the Hurricanes in the 2002-03 season, a year before cousin Eric Staal made his debut in Carolina. Heerema played ten games with the Hurricanes that season and 22 with the St. Louis Blues the following year to round out his NHL career.

Jeff twice led his American Hockey League team in points. in his first season in the AHL, 2001-02, he led the Lowell Lock Monsters in goals (33), assists (37) and points (70). In his last season in North America, 2006-07, Heerema led the Binghamton Senators in goals with 36 and points with 67.

The greatest playoff success Jeff achieved in North America was during the 2004-05 season. Playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, the team made it to the Western Conference finals before being swept by the Chicago Wolves.

In 2007-08, it was off to Germany for Heerema. For two seasons, he played for the Frankfurt Lions of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Jeff joins two other OHL grads on the Nottingham Panthers, Alex Penner (click here for a previous post on Alex) and Jonathan Zion (click here for a previous post on Jonathan). The Belfast Giants have brought in artillery in the form of OHL grads as well with the aquisition of Brad Smyth (click here for previous post on Brad) and Michael Jacobsen (click here for previous post on Michael). The Panthers lost OHL great Cameron Mann to retirement after the 2009-10 season (click here for previous post on Cameron).

(The tongue twister title was completely unintentional!)

Michael Jacobsen with Alleghe of Italy's Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio.

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League added another piece of the puzzle this week to ensure their continued dominance of the EIHL and provide a great chance at repeating as EIHL playoff champion. The team came to terms with defenseman and Ontario Hockey League grad, Michael Jacobsen.

Michael Jacobsen played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2001-02. In his first four seasons in the OHL, he called Yardmen Arena home as a member of the Belleville Bulls. In his final season, he started out with the Sudbury Wolves but after just five games was transferred to the Owen Sound Attack where he finished out his OHL career.

Jacobsen knows what it takes to be a champion. He was a big part of Belleville’s 1998-99 Robertson Cup winning team as the Ontario Hockey League’s playoff champion. In his final season with powerhouse Lakehead University in 2005-06, the team was OUA champions. This past season with the Belfast Giants, the team took the EIHL playoff crown.

Michael was picked by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL draft, 134th overall. His North American professional career totals consist of three games with the ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots and three games with the UHL’s Missouri River Otters, all at the tail end of the 2001-02 season.

He spent three seasons with Lakehead in the Canadian university system. Along with winning the Ontario championship in 2005-06, Jacobsen was named to the OUA first team all-star squad for the 2003-04 season.

In the three seasons between Lakehead and Belfast, Michael played in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio for Alleghe.

Belfast is looking to Jacobsen to once again quarterback their powerplay. Last season, Michael scored 12 of his 14 goals with the man-advantage, good for second on the team.

Vote for Michael Jacobsen at the Belleville Bulls official website. As part of their 30th anniversary celebration, they’ve opened it up to the fans to choose the all-time Bulls team.

Jacobsen is also featured in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central which lists the members of the 1998-99 Bulls Robertson Cup winning team that were still active in professional hockey during the 2009-10 season. Among those players is Branko Radivojevic who was featured just yesterday at OHL Alumni Central – click here to read the post.

Michael, Branko and all the other Belleville Bulls grads still active in professional hockey can be found on the OHL Alumni Big List.

Brad Smyth as a member of Medvescak Zagreb.

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have signed a legend. Ontario Hockey League grad Brad Smyth has finally found a home for the 2010-11 season and it’s on the Emerald Isle.

Brad Smyth played in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 1990-91 to 1992-93, all with the London Knights. It was in his final season with the Knights that Smyth exploded and became the offensive force that he continues to be 18 seasons later. His 54 goals were tops on the Knights and his 109 points were second only to Jason Allison.

Undrafted, Brad managed an 88 game NHL career with the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and Ottawa 67′s. He spent most of his time during his career in North America in the AHL, however.

In just his second season in the AHL, with the Carolina Monarchs, he won the Willie Marshall Award for most goals, the Sollenberger Trophy for most points and the Les Cunningham Award as Most Valuable Player. His 68 goals that season stand as the second highest single season tally in AHL history and just two goals behind Stephane LeBeau’s record performance during the 1988-89 season.

Brad won the Willie Marshall Award again in 2000-01 with the Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 50 goals. That season he finished fifth overall in total points and helped the Wolf Pack to a Calder Cup victory with a four games to two victory over Rochester. The previous season he finished seventh in league scoring and the following season he finished fourth. In his final season in the AHL, he was the Manchester Monarchs leader in both goals and points.

Smyth finds his name written in more than one location in the AHL record book. The captain of four different AHL teams is tied as the player with the most times as league leading goal scorer at twice. His two 50+ goal seasons ties him with one other for the most. He is also tied for the most powerplay goals in one season with 27 in 1995-96.

Brad first tested the European market in 2003-04 while playing for Kärpät of Finland’s SM-Liiga. That season, Kärpät won the SM-Liiga championship.

In 2006-07, Smyth returned to Europe, this time with the Hamburg Freezers of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In his first season with Hamburg, his 59 points in 52 games tied him for the team lead. He spent the following two seasons with the Freezers.

This past season, 2009-10, Brad crossed the border into Austria to play in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Actually, he played in Croatia for Medvescak Zagreb, a Croatian team that plays in the Austrian elite league. With Zagreb, Smyth was close to producing at a point per game level.

Smyth brings with him to Belfast a strong touch of class, credibility and skill. The team has already jumped out to an early lead in the EIHL standings and adding Brad will seriously increase the chances of an EIHL title.

Read the article at the Belfast Giants official website announcing the signing of Brad Smyth.